UPDATED: Cannabis Preroll Purchasers Accuse Jeeter of Alleged THC Mislabeling in Class Action Suit

Editor's note, 9:30 p.m. E.T., Oct. 24: This story was updated to include the following statement from Jeeter:

"Let us get straight to the point. The allegations regarding our THC levels are false. 

"We take pride in our compliance and commitment to state mandated testing procedures, including independent, third-party testing. The product and our integrity is something we truly value as a company, and take all the proper and legal steps before our product hits the shelves.

"We built this company with a foundation of morals, values and culture, and our love for cannabis. We take pride in all the jobs we have created and pushing the industry forward. 

"However baseless and ridiculous these claims are, we take them very seriously and look forward to the truth coming to light."

Original story:

A class action lawsuit alleges that DreamFields Brands Inc. and Med For America Inc., which “make, sell, and market the ‘Jeeter’ brand of ‘prerolls,’” have labeled products as having higher THC percentages than those products contain.

The law firm Dovel & Luner represents plaintiffs Jasper Centeno and Blake Wilson, who the complaint states both purchased mislabeled Jeeter products at California dispensaries.

The lawsuit refers to a report by industry publication WeedWeek published in September, which states that two diamond-infused prerolls tested by the news outlet had “implied THC inflation” of 70% to 100% and 28% to 42%, respectively. These were two of nine prerolls tested by independent labs that have been vocal about the issue of potency inflation in the cannabis industry. Jeeter was one of two companies that agreed to a second test by WeedWeek and reimbursed its editor and publisher, Alex Halperin, for the cost of the products.

The complaint points to WeedWeek’s findings that both Jeeter prerolls tested had allegedly contained THC percentages that fall outside of the 10% margin of error permitted by California Department of Cannabis Control regulations.

The complaint states: “For example, the Baby Jeeter Fire OG Diamond Infused 5-Pack Preroll was listed as having 46% THC on the label. Independent lab testing showed, however, that the actual THC content of the product was substantially lower, between 23-27% THC. Thus, the THC content was overstated by 70-100%—substantially more than the 10% margin of error allowed under the California regulations.”

Referring to each of the plaintiffs, the suit states: “If he had known the truth, he would not have purchased the products, or would have paid less for them.”

The lawsuit alleges that if the defendants were to test its products with an independent lab rather than the one they went with, they “would have learned that the THC content of their products was substantially overstated.”

Georg Kallert of Landau Labs, which tested products for Jeeter, told WeedWeek regarding the news outlet’s findings for the Fire OG product that “A review of provided CoAs shows moisture content analysis was handled differently from Landau Labs…thus final results were artificially lowered.” (Landau Labs is not named in the lawsuit.)

Addressing Jeeter’s Churros Diamond Infused 5-Pack Preroll, which WeedWeek said had “implied THC inflation” of 28% to 42%, Kallert said Landau Labs stands by its results.

Jeeter declined to comment to WeedWeek, according to the outlet.

In a prepared statement provided to CBT, attorney Christin Cho of Dovel & Luner said: “Consumers are willing to pay more for cannabis products with higher THC content, and expect to pay less for cannabis products with lower THC content."